Thomas Stickler. The Casa Colina Horticulture
Therapy and Training Program, Pomona,
California
Our introduction to vetiver grass began five years ago with a
single clump of an unknown plant taken from the Los Angeles
Arboretum. Jean Cozart, a founding member of the Herb
Society of America, identified it as a variety vetiver called
"Sunshine." She also provided valuable
information about vetiver and the network promoting its
use. Since then, thousands of vetiver slips have been
produced by root division, proving a great success for our
horticultural therapy program. Casa Colina's Horticultural
Therapy and Training Program offers vocational training and
personal growth to people with developmental disabilities or
acquired brain injuries. As a non-profit organization
currently operating Casa Colina Farms in Pomona, California, we
sell plants in our nursery, work as contracted landscapers, and
prepare herbal products grown from plants in an organic farm,
among many other activities. For our horticultural therapy
program, vetiver is an excellent plant. It is hardy and
durable, needs little maintenance or tending, and propagation is
easy--all characteristics that make a successful plant for an
horticultural therapy program.
Displaying vetiver's useful application along an embankment at
Cal Poly Pomona's Land Lab is our biggest success with
vetiver. Four years ago, the hillside along a road at Land
Lab was an all too common Southern California occurrence: heavy
erosion, scanty vegetation, and an aesthetic blight. Chunks
of the slope would fall into the road. Without topsoil or
extensive irrigation, we planted vetiver into the shale
embankment, wondering how the vetiver would take. The
vetiver thrived. Not only did erosion cease, but other
benefits occurred. Seedlings of California Black Walnut
germinated in pockets of rich organic matter created by the
vetiver. Now the embankment, covered by lush vetiver and
young trees, watered only by natural rainfall, stands as a
testament to vetiver's usefulness.
Other successes occurred at the Spirit Mountain Retreat Center
and Lincoln Elementary School. At both sites, vetiver
prevented erosion and absorbed excess water. A success we
hope for the future is our plan (in development) with a local
conservation district of developing a demonstration site to
promote and increase awareness about.
The problems we have encountered deal with political issues
surrounding vetiver grass, not any horticultural problem.
There is a distinct lack of awareness concerning vetiver. A
solution to this problem, namely a demonstration site at a
government agency or university, raises another problem.
For the moment neither place wants to invest the resources into a
demonstration site until vetiver has a significant
reputation. A classic Catch-22 ensues because vetiver will
remain relatively unknown until a demonstration site is
developed, yet a site for vetiver won't be developed until
vetiver is more widely known. Another concern in our area
is the lack of knowledge about preserving, restoring, and
regenerating Southern California native plant habitats with
vetiver grass assisting the establishment of natives. Again
a solution to this problem would be a demonstration site. A
final problem is the lack of funding, resources, and research
needed to promote vetiver on a commercial scale and to develop
demonstration sites for combating the other problems we have
identified, the biggest problem being the lack of awareness about
vetiver.
New applications of vetiver technology would also help raise
awareness of vetiver's benefits. As we said earlier, the
durability and resilience of vetiver make it ideal for an
horticultural therapy program. The processes of cutting back
vetiver, digging it out of the ground, dividing the plant into
smaller clumps, and potting or replanting the resulting
"next generation" takes time, engages different skills
and problem solving, and allows a multitude of variously
challenged people with differing capacities to be involved in
propagating vetiver, fostering not only higher self esteem but
also encouraging team work. We think more horticultural
therapy programs should use vetiver.
Another new use for vetiver is in local schools. Teaching
young children about vetiver is an excellent way to raise
awareness and promote vetiver use in the community. Parents
and adults will become exposed to vetiver more if they see it
planted in the school's landscape or in a school garden where it
can serve a variety of functions like acting as a screen or to
soak excess water from low areas of the garden. Also
vetiver can be used as an integration zone between non-native and
native interface areas. Vetiver eases the transition
between the two groups of plants.
For specifically southern California, research needs exist in
testing vetiver at flood basins, freeway embankments, and
landfill sites. Further research is need on the economic
potential of vetiver in horticultural therapy programs. The
money generated from our program is redirected back into the
program to purchase new tools and equipment, further develop our
site, and provide greater opportunities for people with
disabilities. Finally the last research need in southern
California we have identified deals with discovering the optimal
container size and soil for growing vetiver in pots. One
gallon compared to four inch containers seem to produce vetiver
that becomes established easier, but more data is needed.
In closing we offer some final notes and observations on
the state of vetiver technology. Currently in southern
California an authoritative, either governmental or academic,
multidisciplinary push to promote and research vetiver grass is
needed most. A significant aspect of this focus would be a
successful demonstration site displaying various applications of
vetiver. Envision an annual conference, held at the
demonstration site, to raise awareness in Southern California
about vetiver. The highlight of the conference would be a
tour of the site so people can gain as much first hand knowledge
as they can. We think this would quell any objections
raised by people skeptical about non-native plants being brought
in to solve our area's various ecological problems, like
erosion. All in all, vetiver's potential is limited only by
our imagination.